Refuge
by emisonxx
Summary: What happens when Alison DiLaurentis comes face to face with Emily Fields, the most beautiful girl she's ever seen? Oh, and Emily also happens to be wanted for murder. AU Emison.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hi everyone! My friend and fellow writer kayweston and I have teamed up to bring you an epic Emison story that we want to be constantly posting during this spring hiatus to hold people over until the series return. If you're like us, you were probably extremely disappointed with the lack of Emison towards the end of Season 5 and the reveal.

And I **_promise_** that this story actually has been developed, and there are chapters written and ready to go so we can be posting frequently. It's the first story on here other than my one-shots that I've actually mapped out and not just let it run with my imagination.

Also, I want to say that nobody hates the fact that my stories are unfinished more than I do. Unfortunately, I just don't have the time to definitely finish some of them. I post them to share my little bits and pieces of imagination with you all, but I feel really bad when I don't finish and that's the reason I posted a couple long one-shot's recently. The stories I _do_ plan on continuing for sure are _Christmas and Strippers, After Christmas_, and_ Orange is the New Alison. _And now this, of course. I do plan on occasionally writing bits and pieces of stories like _Feel Good Drag _and _Uneasy Hearts Weigh the Most_, but unfortunately I won't be finishing _ Watching You _(which, part of me never intended to, since I did start that half asleep).

THANK YOU guys for all your support, all your reviews and favorites and follows mean everything to me. I've been fighting my depression for the last few weeks, and it's always wonderful to read your thoughts and talk to people on here. And thanks to kayweston for helping me write this and for being a kickass friend.

ENJOY!

x-x-x

**_Chapter 1: We Gotta Get Out of This Place_**

"I'm headed out," an older girl says lazily to Alison who is busy cleaning the front countertop. The blonde has wisps of her hair in her face as she leans over, scrubbing all the grime away vigorously. Her head barely rises up to acknowledge the other girl in the empty cafe. "Can you close up? I did all my side work, just take the trash out and lock up the back door."

"Yeah, sure," Alison barely acknowledges as she continues cleaning. She pauses, catching her breath and leans on her hands on the counter, sighing deeply. It's been a long, long day. Just as she picks the rag up off the counter and throws it in a bucket of hot water and bleach, her phone rings. She looks down in relief to see her best friend's name on the screen.

"Yeah?" Alison greets a little too harshly as she answers the phone, flipping the hair out of her face.

"What crawled up your ass?" Hanna replies dryly and Alison snorts, rolling her eyes. Typical Hanna Marin, being a goddamn smartass.

"Ian Thomas," Alison tells her angrily as she goes over to the trashcan to empty it.

"What'd he do now?"

"He came by The Brew and asked me to go out tomorrow night. I asked him if he was done with that red-headed skank I saw him making out with at Jason's party last weekend. He said, and I quote, 'Why's it matter, we're not dating, remember?'"

"God, that fucking sleazebag," Hanna spits out angrily on the other line.

"I _know_," Ali seethes, tying up the garbage bag as she uses her shoulder to hold her phone to her ear. "I'm starting to think he only wants to date me to get in my pants."

"Uh earth to Ali that's _definitely_ the only reason he wants to date you."

"Yeah, but it didn't seem like that sometimes," Ali sighs as she picks up the trash and heads to the backdoor. She heads outside while Hanna blabs on about how she should forget about Ian and focus on someone else, someone better.

"That's easy for you to say, Han. You have Caleb," Ali grumbles as she throws the heavy trash in the dumpster and goes back inside. She turns the music off and begins to tidy up the remaining little messes around the café.

"Well summer is coming up, just a little over a month," Hanna proclaims gladly. "And soon we'll be at the beach at our houses. And we'll find you some beach hottie."

Alison couldn't care less about finding some random beach dude to hook up with. She is growing tired of random hookups, pointless encounters, people who give her random bursts of hope only to shatter her self esteem. Nobody would know that popular queen bee Alison suffered from random bouts of deep, self-loathing. Only Hanna barely knew the extent of which her best friend really was displeased with herself.

She might've been popular, relatively wealthy, and very attractive, but sometimes, Alison felt empty. When people had asked her why she'd started working part time at The Brew, she told everyone it was because her parents were forcing her. But really, and not even Hanna knew this, Alison had read somewhere that having a job gives a person a certain sense of pride and accomplishment. She craved that, and so she told herself she could be better if she took on this job.

And she was a little bit better, though there were days she still snapped at people- particularly rude customers- in full Alison DiLaurentis bitch style. But for the most part she had grown out of her bratty, rude, selfish ways over the last few years. For the most part.

The sound of sirens catches her attention and she realizes they sound like they're coming closer and closer.

"Han?" Alison blurts out, completely cutting off the other blonde on the phone. She had been completely spaced out but she wasn't anymore. In fact, her senses had just heightened. "I gotta go I'll call you back."

With that she hangs up and is suddenly aware of the loud helicopter noises above the building.

_"ATTENTION. There is a dangerous murderer on the loose, please lock your doors and stay inside until further notice."_

That message blared out through overhead speakers on repeat. The announcement and helicopters were creating a noisy chaos combined with the sound of police sirens. Alison looked out the front window to see red and blue lights patrolling the streets in front of the brew.

A little shaken, Alison drops what she's doing and goes to the back door to shut it. But as she approaches it, she notices it's slightly open and her heartbeat increases rapidly. She had for sure shut it, there's no doubt in her mind. The blonde brings her slightly trembling hands up to shut and lock the door securely. Once that's done, she turns to go to the front of the store to make sure it's locked.

Alison takes two strides before she hears a scuffle behind her. Her heart freezes in her chest, and her muscles tense up. The air in the room suddenly feels tighter, and she stops dead in her tracks.

"Hello?" Alison calls out, too frightened to turn around. "Is someone still here?"

There's no response, only the sound of the chaos from outside. The words _dangerous murderer_ keep echoing in her mind. What if she's trapped in here with some psycho murderer? Could they have slipped in the back door? She's done a lot of bad things in her life, but she doesn't think she deserves something like that to happen. What if there is a murderer, and this is payback for the time she stole Hanna's first boyfriend Sean, or the time she bitched Mona Vanderwaal out in front of everyone, or when she-

Alison doesn't have a chance to finish her random train of thought because she hears a clattering noise from the kitchen. Her petite body jumps slightly at the noise, and she feels frozen with fear.

"Hello?" she squeaks, not even knowing why she is bothering to ask if a wanted criminal wants to come out and say hi. Then it strikes her- she should just make a bolt for the front door. Yes, that's it- if she makes it outside she can seek help from the police.

With urgency, she turns for the front of the café and prepares to run. But she doesn't take more than three steps to the door before a hand comes clamping down over her mouth from behind, pulling her tightly backward. Alison tries to scream but it's muffled and a sharp knife is suddenly raised to her throat with the attacker's other hand, reducing Alison to a quivering wreck.

"Be. Quiet", the intruder hisses right into the blonde's ear, but to Alison's morbid surprise this voice belongs to a female. She begins to feel her eyes well up, her body shaking violently against the warm body pressed against her. Her muffled cries continue, and she hears her captor sigh heavily.

"Be quiet, _please_. I promise I'm not going to hurt you," the woman says in a dark, low voice and Alison's muscles relax a tad bit, just enough for her to take one, slow and shaky breath when the tight grip on her body is loosened slightly.

"Promise you won't scream?" the quiet, hushed voice asks and Alison nods shakily but she feels the knife at her throat press harder and she whimpers, her eyes slamming shut in fear. "I mean it! Swear that you won't scream or try to run."

"I swear," Alison quickly blurts out as the hand is removed from her mouth. There's only silence and she feels the knife being lowered from her throat. The blonde lets out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding. But she keeps her head down and doesn't turn around – she can feel the woman is moving out from behind her and soon, with her eyes fixed on the ground in front of her, she sees blue converse and a fragment of washed-out jeans. She's too afraid to look up. No, actually she's terrified and not even the sight of casual blue converse can stop her heart from nearly exploding inside her chest.

"I'm not going to hurt you," the stranger repeats, stepping closer and drawing a gasp from Alison.

This time, she has to look up. Her brilliant baby blue eyes widen as she sees not a woman, but a_ gorgeous,_ young, athletic girl who couldn't be older than she herself was. The attacker's eyes are brown, and they examine Ali like a hawk. The girl looks conflicted, as if debating her every move. Her long, brown hair cascades over her shoulders and Alison is suddenly confused at how someone so beautiful could be so dark, could be wanted for _murder_. The tank top she's wearing shows off her toned, defined arms and Ali can tell she's a strong person just from the way she stands.

"I need your help."

x-x-x

Alison, barely breathing, taps some incoherent rhythm on the table with her fingertips. She doesn't know what to do with her hands, much less what to do whatsoever. She was commanded to sit tight by this mysterious girl who now stands tensely by the window with the curtains drawn, the knife still in her hand and Ali's cell phone in the other.

She resembles an animal that's being poached, Alison thinks, her eyes filled with this ferocious, raw fear that's unusually mixed with so, so much aggression. Life instinct or killer instinct, Alison doesn't know. She's not sure she wants to.

Sirens and police lights are still crawling up and down the street, the horrible criminal announcement being played over and over on repeat outside. Part of the blonde hopes that the police come barging into the café, another part hopes that this mysterious girl gets away- and she's unsure why.

"Is there any other way out of here?" the brunette asks in a tense voice, causing Alison to jump in her seat. "And stop tapping, it's driving me insane."

"N-no," she replies reluctantly, clutching her own hands together to stop the nervousness. "I don't think so."

"Damnit," the girl swears, shaking her head as she angrily slams the phone down on the table. Alison jumps at the violent action, her eyes blinking rapidly. The attacker shakes her head quickly. "Sorry."

Her voice is a mere mumble and she runs her hand through her hair quickly, her face frowning and worry etching into her features.

"What's your name?"

The brunette's eyes fly to meet Alison's, and the blonde is surprised to realize it was her _own _voice that spoke, that _she _had been the one to ask the random question. But if she's going to be held hostage by some random murderer on the loose, she wants to at least know her name.

"What?" the brunette looks at her carefully as if she heard her wrong.

"Your name," Alison breathes out softly, watching as the brunette's chest rises and falls softly and her body position shifts slightly.

"Emily," the brunette forces herself to speak, hesitantly.

"Emily?" Ali repeats, and she thinks that the name fits. She doesn't understand what's going on, but she does know that Emily is such a _stunning_ girl. Her tan skin looks soft, though her features are hard and seem cruel as if she's trying to put on a front. And the girl is tall, lean, and has curves in all the right places. Though she's not wearing any makeup, Alison can tell this criminal is naturally stunning. She's sure her mugshot would look gorgeous.

"What's it matter anyway," Emily says under her breath as she pushes her hair back once more. Her eyes roam over the blonde and for some reason it intimidates Ali, it makes her squirm nervously. She watches as the brunette's lips curl up in a small innocent smirk. "You can relax I already said I'm not going to hurt you."

"Well sorry I'm having a bit of trouble trusting a wanted murderer," Ali blurts out in frustration and then her face shifts to a look of horror.

"I'm not a murderer," Emily seethes in a low, threatening voice. Her eyes are swirling with intense agony, a certain longing inside them. When she speaks again, her voice cracks painfully. "I swear. I didn't do it."

"Then why are they after you?" Alison asks, her eyes narrowing as her arms fold across her chest.

"Just trust me," Emily hisses, her voice raw and honest. "I could _never _have killed her."

"How am I supposed to believe-"

There's a pounding on the door that cuts them off.

"This is the police, if there is somebody in there open the door _now_."

Emily and Alison lock eyes once more, the blonde seeing a look of panic come across the brunette's face. But the pounding continues.

"Open the door, _now!_"

"I hate to do this," Emily says almost remorsefully, but she holds a stoic look on her face as she strides over to Alison in two swift steps, yanks her up by her arm, and binds her wrists together behind her back in an iron grip. She brings the knife up to Ali's throat and Ali gasps at the feeling of the cold metal digging into her skin a little too sharply. "Where can we hide?"

x-x-x

"Search the premises, check upstairs, now," an officer barks. The sound of walkies and footsteps and sirens overpowers the entire café.

Meanwhile, Alison shivers, her body shaking and she finds herself pressing into Emily's body behind her for warmth. It doesn't escape her that Emily's body tenses up and then relaxes every time Alison shivers against her.

"Search the entire kitchen!"

The two hear voices getting closer, and Emily's hand around Alison's mouth clamps even harder. The blonde had brought them into the walk-in freezer, in a small hidden compartment in the back behind some crates of vegetables. It's pitch black, and Alison can feel Emily's warm breath on her skin.

Alison quivers with the frigid air and she can't imagine how cold Emily must be, the brunette is wearing a mere tank top while the blonde at least has long sleeves on.

Her fingers come out to touch Emily's hand, and she tries to gently pry it off of her mouth.

"What are you doing?" Emily hisses in a hushed whisper, refusing to budge. But Ali is persistent, and she tries to calmly remove the fingers with gentle motions, an attempt to show Emily she won't do anything to compromise her. "You're not going to scream are you?"

Ali shakes her head and the brunette still hesitates to take her hands away. But when Ali uses a bit more force to rip Emily's hand away, the brunette allows it and Ali feels her heartbeat increase tenfold.

"You're shivering," Ali simply whispers and she's not sure why she wants to help Emily but she does. She turns her body so Emily is flat against the wall, and she presses her front against Emily, trying to maximize their body heat. Her hands go to rub Emily's bare arms and the brunette inhales sharply. There are goosebumps all over Emily's skin and Alison rubs quickly to try and create friction and heat.

They hear the fridge door open, and Alison can _feel_ Emily's heartbeat pounding out of her chest. She tries to quiet her, and she puts her face in the crook of her neck between her head and her shoulder and whispers _shhhh_. But she feels Emily shiver and maybe that wasn't the best idea, in retrospect.

Time seems to drag on as they are trapped together in that infinitely tiny space while police make a ruckus outside in the main compartment of the walk in freezer. And Alison doesn't _mind_ for some reason. The thrill of it all is setting her nerves on fire, it makes her feel alive. And it wouldn't be the first time she's undergone a life threatening situation just to feel alive, to feel like she has a sense of purpose.

And oddly enough, above all else, Emily's arms wrapped tightly around her make her feel _safe_. For all she knows, Emily could be a deranged murderer lying about what she's done. But there was a genuine honesty to her declaration of innocence. So Alison wants to know the real story, she wants to know what _really_ happened to Emily and why she's being accused of murder. But she can't find that out in a freezer under search, and she's positive that Emily is going to hang around after to drink tea and swap life stories.

"Freezer is clear!" they hear a voice yell and Emily's body collapses slightly. Alison has to hold her up, and she can feel exhaustion running through the brunette's heavy body as she struggles to stand. She realizes that Emily must have been running on adrenaline.

They stay in that spot until they hear the place clear out, and even then they wait a few minutes.

"Come on," Ali whispers as she tugs on Emily and she pushes the door open. She grabs the brunette's hand that isn't holding a knife and pulls her out into the main compartment, and leads her to the open kitchen.

"Put the knife down," Ali says gently as she leads Emily to the counter and busies herself with a kettle in the back. She turns to see Emily shaking, and she sees that the brunette is still recovering from the shock and the cold. "I'll make some tea, the water is still warm."

"I have to go," Emily protests weakly.

"The cops are still out there, you should wait a bit before running," Alison suggests and the brunette leans against the counter, hanging her head in frustration. The blonde doesn't know whether or not to push her limits, but she decides to. "Where are you going after this?"

Emily merely shrugs, her eyes flickering over Alison's body.

"Somewhere warm," Emily offers and Alison smiles faintly at that.

"My grandparents live in Georgia, it's always warm down south," Ali replies softly and she glances at Emily- she finally sees marks she didn't see before. There are bruises on Emily's forearm, as if someone had grabbed her hard. But there is still a hard look on the brunette's face, one of determination and grit.

"Why are you being so nice?" Emily demands roughly but quietly, and there's a hint of confusion hidden below her aggressive surface. This time Ali shrugs.

"I guess you owe me," Alison jokes lightly. But those brown eyes look at her with an intense focus that she can't shake. Those eyes, they're so damn hypnotizing and Ali finds herself inexplicably and helplessly drawn to this stranger.

"You know that hiding a wanted murderer is a federal offense right?"

Alison forces herself to stare at Emily directly in the eye as she speaks.

"I don't think you'd rat me out, would you?"

Emily looks at her long and hard. She can't deny that this strange blonde isn't exactly her type of girl. The minute her eyes had set sight on her, she'd felt guilt churning in her stomach at the thought of harming her. But she'd gone too far to not defend herself like she had.

"Be careful who you trust," Emily grinds out in a bitter voice. "You seem like a nice girl, whoever you are-"

"Alison," the blonde says in an equally low voice.

"Alison," Emily says and she hates that she knows she can't sit around and get to know the blonde. She has to run, far. But she'll never forget the kind gesture and the pretty girl. "Thank you."

The brunette gets up and heads for the door. It's like ripping off a bandaid, she thinks. If she can just get up and make a clean escape for the door, she won't feel bad about just leaving the kind girl who helped her escape.

"Be careful."

Emily hears the girl's voice speak, and she decides she's met an angel. Alison is her own personal angel. A certain sadness resounds inside her, because she barely knows this girl and she's being forced to say goodbye.

"You too."

And with that, Emily disappears, and Alison is left all alone in the empty coffee shop. The sirens have disappeared, the helicopters have left, and the mysterious Emily has fleeted, surely never to appear again.

x-x-x

**A/N: What do you guys think? :) Let us know please, we love hearing from you! **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Wow! I totally loved hearing all your thoughts, and I'm glad you guys are excited for this story. kayweston and I are having a lot of fun writing it! We wanted to post this a bit earlier than planned since we got so much positive feedback. Hope you guys enjoy!xx

**kayweston**: Thank you guys so, so much for your support! We wouldn't do it without you, and you've no idea how huge are the smiles plastered on our faces when we read your reviews :) So thank you- and we're looking forward to hearing from you – don't hesitate to drop us a line!

**Chapter 2: You Must be Haunting Me**

_Six weeks later…_

The sun rises over the ocean, and Alison inhales deeply as she breathes in the wonderful scent of the salty beach air. Her body feels enlightened as she wraps her thin robe around her and lifts her cup of tea to her lips, sipping slowly. This was what she lived for, moments like this. She had arrived a few days ago at her grandparent's beach house in Georgia, and she couldn't be happier.

Her upstairs room had a balcony that overlooked the beach front, and Alison took advantage of it every morning. Even though school was long over, and graduation had come and gone, her body's internal clock still had her waking up at six am every morning, and she was okay with it. It meant she got her alone time.

The blonde sits down at her little table on the balcony and opens her sketch book that she brought with her. Its a chestnut, leatherbound book that she keeps with her at all times. The book itself is filled with countless drawings of people or places or things that she finds interesting. As she sits down and flips through it, she sighs once more. The last few pages are of the dark haired beauty she had encountered weeks ago in the coffee shop. Emily Fields, she had learned, was the girl's full name.

There was no escaping the news reports and investigators all over the town. Her face had been all over the televisions the next day. As Alison did more research, she learned that Emily had been charged with the murder of her _girlfriend_, Maya St. Germain. The blonde couldn't stop herself from tearing into the investigation. Afterall she had come face to face with the 'murderer' herself, and she can't shake off the fact that she _helped _her escape. She _helped_ this murderer escape. If Emily really did it, that is.

From what Alison had read and found out, it seemed pretty likely that Emily could be guilty. Witnesses at a bar had seen Emily and Maya get into a really intense drunken fight, like glasses being hurled and violent screaming. The next morning, Maya was found dead in a deserted alley near the bar, presumably hit by a car. When the police showed up to Emily's apartment, she claimed she had no idea where her car was. Investigators later found it disposed near a lake with Maya's blood all over the front end. When they had showed up at Emily's house, she had just recently left the place, making a run for it.

Alison didn't know what to believe. She had seen Emily's genuine protest. She'd seen the absolute defiant look on her face, the look she had when she declared she could _never_ have killed her (Maya, Alison now knows). But it seems now that according to the news and the police, Emily could very well be guilty. And just because she barely hurt Alison didn't mean that she is innocent.

Still, there had been something so overpowering about Emily, something so attractive that Alison couldn't shake. She kept drawing the brunette from her memory, and every sketch left the blonde wanting to know who she really was. There were always one or two features that kept changing every time she drew a portrait, and she just really wanted to sit down and be face to face with Emily and draw her.

That of course isn't a possibility. It doesn't matter though, Alison thinks about the brunette frequently. She wonders where she is, if she is okay, if she needes somebody while she to talk to while hiding out- but these thoughts never get her anywhere. She gradually starts to feel guilty for helping a wanted criminal, and then she sighs, wondering what would happen to her if she was ever found out as being an accomplice.

Anyway. The sketch book is one of her most prized possessions. It is one of the few things that she feels makes her human, makes her feel alive. Her grandma had bought it for her a few summers back, and Alison hadn't really used it until she was stuck in a drawing class at school. It was then that she discovered how relieving it was to draw, to be creative and to unleash the power of her thoughts onto paper. Not even Hanna has seen some of her most private drawings or sketches, and she wants to keep it that way. She loves having her secrets, it makes her feel protected.

Alison continues to sketch the scenery before her until the sun rises higher in the sky.

"What the hell are you doing up so early?"

Alison hears a sleepy, grumpy voice and she looks to her left to see Hanna tiredly standing on the balcony of her parent's beach house. Their families are so close that the Marins had ended up buying the vacation house next to Alison's a few years ago. Being privileged kids definitely has its perks.

"Good morning to you too," Alison smirks at Hanna's messy bedhead.

"It's eight fucking thirty in the morning, what are you doing?" Hanna demands once more.

"Enjoying the morning sunrise," Alison simply replies, her eyes twinkling with bright life as she faces the scenic ocean.

"Oh enough with your hopeless romantic bullshit," Hanna groans. "If you're grumpy later today because you're sleep deprived, I will not be taking your shit."

"Shut up," Alison scowls as she scribbles furiously at her drawing.

"I want breakfast," Hanna says loudly, likely to wake up half the neighborhood.

"So have Caleb make it."

"He won't be up for a bit," Hanna groans. "Can we have bacon or something?"

Alison sighs as she shuts her book. Her alone time is clearly over.

"Sure Hanna," she says in a slight biting tone, annoyed that her private time has been interrupted. "Let's eat _bacon_ and all that grease that comes with it."

"Now you're talking," Hanna says, unphased by Alison's bitching. "Meet you in my kitchen in five."

x-x-x

"Oh my god I know her!" Hanna exclaims and Alison almost spits out her cereal, milk dribbling down the side of her mouth as she looks at the other blonde in shock.

The two are watching the morning news and lo and behold, there's a picture of Emily Fields on the screen. It's just a small town reporter discussing old news, but Alison can't believe Hanna didn't say this earlier.

"What the hell, didn't you see this all over the news when it was happening in Rosewood?" Alison asks confused as she wipes her mouth.

"No," Hanna shrugs. "Oh, I was on a college visit I think."

"Hanna," Alison groans as she almost slams her head down on the table in frustration.

"What? I mean, I'm not friends with her anymore or anything," Hanna shrugs. "Our parents used to be friends a long time ago. Like in middle school. She was a year older than us and we lost touch."

"What was she like?" Alison can't help but ask curiously.

"Quiet, mostly," Hanna shrugs. "She was nice. To be honest, I don't really remember much. She was never violent or anything, if that's what you mean."

"She just looks so…so-"

"Hot?" Hanna fills in with a smirk. Alison just shoots her a look. "She was always really cute, but she was the type of girl that didn't know it. I always knew when she grew up that she'd be really cute. I didn't predict she'd be a killer though, jesus christ."

"Maybe she's not," Alison offers but Hanna shrugs.

"You never know. I would never have guessed she was gay but she turned out to be," Hanna says as she shovels some egg in her mouth while staring at the television.

"Okay Hanna, being gay and a killer are two different things," Alison rolls her eyes.

"Yeah, but I'm just saying, sometimes people surprise you."

"I hope she's okay, wherever she is," Alison murmurs as she continues to slowly eat. When Hanna gives her a strange look, Alison merely shrugs. "What? Being on the run can be scary."

"Yeah, okay, weirdo."

x-x-x

"Do it, do it, do it!" Hanna cheers on in typical Hanna Marin fashion while Alison crinkles her nose and stares at the shot in front of her.

"Hanna, please, it's just a shot of rum," Alison grumbles, already a bit tipsy. The loud music of the house party has the beat reverberating through her and she isn't really feeling the party scene tonight (but she'd never admit that).

"Yeahh but it's _151_ _Rum_," Hanna slurs, already drunk. She may have pregamed a bit with Caleb before coming to the party. The dark, handsome boy is holding Hanna up with one arm and grins at Ali.

"Come on Ali, no chaser," he goads her on and Alison sighs.

"Don't be a pussy!" The three of them turn to see Cece Drake standing there with a red cup in hand, and a big smirk on her face.

"I'm not a pussy," Alison growls, her pride getting the best of her.

"Then do it," Cece teases.

"You all suck," Ali glares as she takes the shot and throws her head back, swallowing the vile poison with a look of disgust on her face.

"No chaser," Caleb reminds her and Alison shakes her head, her face still contorted with repulsion.

"No, gross, ew, I fucking hate this stuff," Alison says as she looks for the closest chaser and grabs a lime off the counter and sucks on it. The sour taste isn't much better but she'll take it. She makes a mental note that lime only goes well with tequila.

"Pussyyyyy," Cece teases as she comes up by Alison and purrs in her ear.

"Shut up," Ali swats at her as she tries to dodge the teasing older blonde.

"Ali's just grumpy cause she hasn't gotten any action in a while," Hanna casually tosses out there and Alison throws the lime in her hand at the drunk blonde.

"What about Ian?" Cece asks and Alison rolls her eyes.

"Over it," Alison merely responds.

"Then let's get you a beach hottie," Cece smirks and grabs Alison's arm. The blonde rolls her eyes, it's going to be a long night.

x-x-x

Seven more shots and two beers later, Alison stumbles out onto the beach front as some guy leads her out back. She doesn't really remember his name, but he's definitely attractive...well, at least he is from what Ali can tell in her drunken haze.

"Let's go there," he says drunkenly as he points to a spot on the beach behind the house.

"Noo," Alison protests with a small hiccup. "The ocean. I wanna go to the ocean."

"Let's go swimming," the boy says with big grin and Alison's head is spinning as she nods feverently.

"Okay," she says enthusiastically as he grabs her hand and pulls her down towards the shore.

"But you can't go swimming with your clothes on," he points out and she instantly begins to take off her dress. "Damn girl. Forget swimming."

She looks at him and her world begins to spin, and she's definitely not going to remember this in the morning.

"What?" she asks helplessly as his hands land on her body as she sways, trying to maintain balance.

"Come here," he says with a sloppy smile and that's the last thing she remembers before her memory blacks out.

x-x-x

Alison blinks once, and then twice, and then her eyes flutter helplessly as streaks of sunlight hit her and cause her to groan. She doesn't have a hangover, surprisingly, but her body feels sore and sluggish.

The blonde is on the couch in her beach house, so that's a good sign. As she sits up, she sees Cece drinking coffee at the kitchen counter while reading the paper.

"Morning sunshine," Cece drawls sarcastically, her eyes perusing the paper lazily.

"What happened last night?" Ali asks slowly, her mind trying to sort through the events. She remembers shots, she remembers dancing, she remembers following some random boy out the back door…

"Did I sleep with someone?" Ali suddenly asks, panicked, because she has no idea- there's a big blank spot after she went out back.

"Not that I know of," Cece shrugs. "I found you curled up on a blanket on the side of the house, completely passed out."

"What?!" Ali asks, really concerned for her own well being.

"Relax, you looked fine, like your dress was in tact and everything was fine," Cece comments as she finishes off her cup of coffee and stands up. "I'm gonna go shower, I'll be down later."

The blonde on the couch tries to remember desperately for the life of her what happened. As she gets up and goes to her room, she forces herself to think of the details. She wants to piece together what happened during the blackout part of her memory. Sighing, she trys in vein over and over again with no success. But when she hops in the shower and relaxes her mind, bits and pieces come back to her.

_"Come here," he says with a sloppy smile. Alison doesn't like the way his hands grope at her bare skin hungrily. Her head turns away as his leans in, and she suddenly feels very vulnerable, the alcohol rushing through her system making her dizzy. _

_ He tries to drag her half naked body towards a dark part of the beach and she weakly protests, her dress lying on the sand and his gross hands grabbing at her in all the wrong places. _

_ Suddenly, the next thing Alison knows, there are strong arms around her, holding her up, and she feels safe because these hands are soft, and there's a gentle touch to them. _

_ And then Alison remembers clumsily falling into this stranger's lap, on the quiet side of the party house. She has her dress back on, and there's a cup of water in her hand. _

_ Her eyes flitter up, and she sees a dark haired beautiful girl-_

Alison nearly drops the soap in the shower as she tries to remember the girl's face.

_Alison feels her body shift in the stranger's lap as the cup is held to her lips and tilted so that she drinks. Her hands clumsily grasp at the stranger's arm, holding onto the girl. Her fingers keep moving and she's aware of how soft the skin beneath her fingertips is. _

_ "Thank you," Alison mumbles and hiccups, nuzzling her head against the warm body _(and why was she nuzzling her head against someone she can't remember? did her subconscious remember?)

_ The face that looks down at her- it couldn't be. Emily? _

Alison can't bring herself to remember the person, she can't remember her thoughts from the moment, she just remembers cuddling into some dark haired girl. Oh god, what if she was so deranged that she was beginning to imagine Emily Fields everywhere she went? Could she really be so _obsessed_ with the thought of this random girl that she was beginning to put her face onto every dark haired, tan skinned girl?

_It's always warm down south, _she remembers herself saying to the haunting intruder that night. Is it possible that…that she listened…?

No. Emily is not the only person on the planet with dark hair (_and a kind heart_, her subconscious adds). She couldn't have been here. Could she?

Her world starts spinning from all the anxiety, all the rapid thoughts, and she soon has to step out of the shower and do something, anything to stop _thinking_ so much. Mindlessly, she turns the radio on and starts humming the song that's been literally everywhere the whole summer.

"So am I wrong - for thinking that we could be something for real, mm-mhm-mmm," she sings softly as she puts her sky-blue dress on, tying her hair into a quick bun, and she decides she probably should grab a bite, though her stomach feels as if it's tied in a giant knot with a cord. There were certain secrets that she wanted to take with her to the grave, and helping a murderer escape is one of them.

The blonde wanders down stairs, and across the small yard separating her and Hanna's beach house. As she enters the kitchen through the side door, she sees the blonde bending over looking in the fridge.

"Whatcha lookin for?" Ali asks with a smirk and Hanna yelps as she jumps backwards and accidentally hits her head on the top of the fridge.

"Jeeesus Ali," Hanna grumbles as she rubs her head with a frown, pulling out a bottle of Smart Water. "Not so loud."

The television plays the news softly in the background. Alison sits down at the kitchen island and looks at the TV aimlessly.

"Someone's hungover huh?" Ali teases as she grabs a strawberry yogurt that Hanna has left out on the counter to eat. The barely awake blonde snatches it away from her, causing Ali to roll her eyes and go to the fridge to grab her own. In fact, the Marin's fridge offers nothing except yogurt and bread, but Alison is okay with that-

_"… is wanted for a suspected murder and has last been seen near the South Carolina-Georgia border. Anyone who saw her should inform the authorities immediately."_

Alison turns to the TV in surprise and sees Hanna watching too. And she sees the face that's haunting her in all her dreams, in all her daily thoughts. She freezes on the broadcaster's words and it's like someone's put something very heavy on her chest.

The slightest sound of the wind closing a window causes Alison to jump and her spoon in hand clatters to the ground.

"Goddamnit," Alison swears as she grabs her utensil off the ground.

"Relax will you?" Hanna shakes her head, taking a bite of her yogurt.

Alison can't help but feebly smile lightly at her friend's bluntness, but her mind soon wanders elsewhere. Is Emily safe? Does she have anywhere to sleep? What if she really was here?

"Um? Hello, Earth to Alison," Hanna snaps her fingers right in front of her eyes and she focuses for a moment.

"Han…" Ali's eyes are narrowed in concentration, as if she's unsure of her words. She wonders whether it'd be the right thing to tell someone about Emily. What if she was nearby…oh god what if she came to silence Alison?

"Ali? Why do you look so freaked out?"

"That girl…Emily Fields…she might've been here last night."

Hanna's jaw drops and drops a delicious cup of yogurt lands all over the ground in shock.

"She what?!"

x-x-x

"What do you mean you saw her?" the skittish blonde asks Alison, her eyes wide with pure disbelief. They're seated on the beige sofa in Hanna's living room, door and windows closed, and they made sure no one could simply walk in without their permission.

"I said it's possible I saw her, not that I definitely did," Alison explains calmly for the third time.

"But… how? When?" Hanna can't for the life of her figure out why this Emily was in their conversation yesterday and now suddenly pops up fiftyfeet from their beach houses.

"Hey where did you go last night?" Alison asks curiously, diverting from the question.

"At the party? Um… Caleb wasn't feeling the party so we decided to call it a night pretty early. We didn't see you anywhere so I told CeCe to take care of you and we left to come back to the house," she explains, wiggling her eyebrows meaningfully.

Sighing, Alison gives her a tiny smile and takes a deep breath (an activity she's never really given much thought to, but now it's become more deliberate, as if breathing was getting harder with every minute).

"I think I imagined I saw her, that girl from the news. I was too drunk to even tell if it was a vision or not," she finally manages to say, weighing her words.

"Ali, you were completely freaked out two spilled froyos ago, what happened? Tell me," Hanna replies referring to the fact that Ali had dropped her own yogurt in an attempt to help Hanna clean up. She can also see that Hanna is not really convinced by her little excuse. There is genuine concern in Hanna's eyes, so she sighs.

"Really, Han. It could've been anyone," she tries to sound convincing so she wears her studied expression and offers a tight-lipped smile. "I just freaked out because I can't really clearly remember a thing from last night," she adds, seeing that Hanna's face slowly stops showing disbelief.

"Now, let's go swimming, shall we?" she stands, patting Hanna on the back and heads out of the room to find her bikini.

Alison, after heavy internal debate, decides she'll keep her secret to herself. Because afterall, getting drunk and imagining she saw Emily isn't healthy nor a reason to confess that she helped the girl run away. So why does she keep hoping that her visions from last night aren't a part of her imagination?

x-x-x

A/N: Thoughts?! Also, how often do you think we should update? Always curious to know that one. xx


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks for all your positive feedback and thoughts :) We were gonna post on Tuesday, but I know how rough Mondays are sometimes- so hopefully here's something to help get you through the day and to kick start your week! You guys are the best people to write for.

kayweston: Guys, guys! You're awesome, you know that? You never cease to make us smile! We truly do hope you will enjoy this chapter as well. And never hesitate to come and say what you think, you make our day by doing so! So once again – thank y'all ! : )

**Chapter 3 – A Perfect Storm**

A few days go by on the beachfront lazily. Alison continually rises to greet the morning sun, every day feeling a little more empty than the last. This should be a wonderful summer vacation for her- she's just graduated, she has her best friend on the beachfront with her, and there are plenty of gorgeous guys strewn around the beach. She can't even keep track of how many times she's been hit on.

Her art is coming along nicely and her sketches are beautiful- but that's just the problem. All her drawings consist of the dark, mysterious girl that she is dying to see again. Knowing that wanted-criminal Emily Fields is possibly within the same state as her, and was quite possibly on the same freakin' beach as her, keeps this hope alive inside her that she'll see the beautiful girl again. She knows that holding out this hope is ridiculous, but she gave up trying to stop herself six sketches ago. This must be what obsession feels like, she thinks. And she's positive this is the unhealthy kind but she can't _help_ it.

Nobody knows about that night six weeks ago, nobody but Alison and Emily. What if someone finds out? What if Emily dies on the run and it's all for nothing? But what if Emily is _actually_ a crazed murderer and-

"What's wrong with you lately?" Cece asks, interrupting her thoughts as she comes down the stairs while Alison eats breakfast. The older blonde is wearing Jason's oversized baggy t-shirt and Alison rolls her eyes at how sexed up Cece looks with her tussled hair and lack of bottoms. She's a _great_ influence, Ali thinks to herself sarcastically.

"What do you mean?" Ali asks as she sips her tea and puts down her book, _Tender is the Night_. Reading is her only escape now, because at least she doesn't feel crazy as she reads about a lavish yet endearing character who actually falls in love at first sight.

"Your parents went back to work in Rosewood on Monday and that's usually when you start coming out with me and Jason more," Cece notes astutely, her eyes noting how Ali's body language cringes at that. "But you wouldn't even come out last night to the bonfire down the beach."

"I wasn't feeling one hundred percent," Alison shrugs trying to play it off nonchalantly. She's _tired_ of partying and having meaningless conversations with strangers, she has a feeling she's going to be one of those kids who becomes a recluse in college because she partied herself out in high school. But she feels as though her life _needs_ something more meaningful than parties and hookups, as fun as both of those are. She's not against the social fun or casual relationships, she has just never had anything deeper, and she knows that's her own problem. "Plus my Nana would have noticed."

"I saw you passed out in your bed with that book last night," Cece quips as she sits down across from Ali. "And, seriously? Your Nana thinks we're all _saints. _Come on. I know you. You love partying it up on the beach with us. I mean, you love being the center of attention and all the people and boys and booze and dancing and being stupid with Hanna-"

"I know I do," Ali insists, and it's not a lie. She just isn't feeling up to it lately.

"You do what?" Jason interrupts in a gruff voice as he enters the kitchen sleepily.

"None of your business," Ali says and Cece smirks. She's not _trying_ to be a bad influence, but she can tell there's something bothering Alison. And the older blonde has come to view Ali as a little sister, so seeing her all introverted and sulky about _something_ is driving her crazy. She at least wants to know the source of her problem.

"Whatever," he grumbles, hunching over the sink before grabbing a glass of water. "Cece and I will be going out tonight with my buddy Charles and a few of his friends. We're going drinking down at the bars near the bay."

"Sounds fun," Ali responds unenthusiastically. "I think I'm going to take the boat out."

"Take Hanna with you," Jason advises as Cece snorts. He shoots her a look and she raises her eyebrows.

"That girl has no patience for the luxuries of sailing or boating. Just saying," Cece drawls as holds her hands up defensively, deciding to stop trying to pull the truth out of Alison. She grabs an apple and her magazine and marches off to go change upstairs.

"It's just a small fishing boat," Jason states. "She doesn't have to do anything but sit there."

"Hanna has her anniversary with Caleb today, ew," Alison makes a face as she talks to Jason, the thought of that loving bond sending empty pangs through her. He looks at her, concerned. Though the two of them aren't close, he has noticed the changes in Alison's demeanor lately as well. His baby sister seems distant, almost as if her head is always somewhere else. He notices enough to realize she had become even more isolated after the last party they had went to.

"Are you okay?" he asks her outright. She flinches, because is it really that obvious that she's feeling a little off lately? Ali makes a mental note to be more subtle about her display of emotions. "You've been moody lately."

"I'm fine Jason," she insists slowly, a warm hint to her voice that eases him.

"Okay then. Just be careful," he warns her in a brotherly manner. "Maybe you shouldn't take it out by yourself."

"I'll be fine. I'm just going to tan and read," Ali nods with a small smile. She has missed the little boat that she grew up with. She and Jason used to take it out together and go sea fishing just far out enough to feel isolated away from the real world. She's taken it out by herself a few times, and so she doesn't mind the idea of doing so today, on this beautiful sunny morning.

x-x-x

_Scratch that_. Alison doesn't understand how she could have been so stupid, but she somehow managed to fall asleep on the boat in the early afternoon sun. It must be because she isn't sleeping well these days, she thinks. In fact, she's lucky if she can fall asleep before midnight because her mind is racing with thoughts of that…that tan dark haired beauty who stares at her with those haunted brown eyes.

But those stupid thoughts have done nothing except brought trouble to her, and now she's stuck on a boat far from shore while a terrifying storm has quickly formed. She'd woken up, startled, when a wave had splashed her and she realized her predicament. To her chagrin, the sky was dark and the ocean was crashing around her.

The waves are now wild, and they rock the boat aggressively as Ali yelps when it dips forward, lurching her towards the wheel. Another large wave comes crashing down near the boat and sprays water all over the blonde and the boat, leaving her shivering and panicked.

"Fuck," Ali curses in a panic as she grabs her cell phone and tries to call but she has no signal. Frustrated, she puts her phone back in her pocket as she tries to start the small motor on the boat, but the engine is filled with water and refuses to start.

Her heart begins to pound furiously as she realizes she doesn't have very many options here- she could pathetically sit in the boat and hope some coast guard finds her soon, or get swept farther out to sea in the tiny thing. Or she could abandon ship and swim, but Ali doesn't know if she'll make it safely. She doesn't know shit about the ocean and has heard stories about the undercurrents, and quite frankly she doesn't know what part of the beach she's near. What if there are sharks? Oh god. The blonde pales quickly at the thought of sharks, one of her biggest fears.

Worst of all, she sees rocks in the distance near shore, large rocks, and waves breaking against them. She worries that if she tries to swim, those waves will throw her against the rocks ruthlessly. Or worse, tear her body up with rocks that are barely beneath the surface of the water.

Fear paralyzes her body, and this is not a situation that has ever even crossed the blonde's mind. But here she is, stranded off shore in a boat that is suddenly defective, with no one knowing she needs help. She feels at a loss, as if all control has been stripped away from her (later, she wonders if this is how Emily feels). But she clutches tightly onto the wheel of the motorboat, as if willing it to move on its own accord. Still, the storm brews more aggressively by the minute and the winds hit her unpleasantly, causing her tiny body to shake.

A large wave comes crashing down, bringing water onto the boat up to Ali's ankles, and the blonde really starts to panic. There's nobody around as far as she can tell, on the beach or on the water. She truly is all alone. If she died out here today, she'd be lost at sea for a day or two for sure.

But she can't let herself think like that, she knows she's just frightened. "Think calmly," Ali tries to tell herself as she goes to check the motor on the back of the boat carefully. Maybe if there's some way she can empty the water from it-

She never gets the chance to even try the desperate move. A giant wave comes crashing down, partly on the boat, and the motion of the wave with the water causes the boat to rock dangerously and Alison gasps as it begins to lean one way with the weight of the water.

The boat tips over and Ali shrieks as she goes overboard with it. She gasps for air as she surfaces, scrambling to hold onto the bottom of the boat as it floats. The waves are pretty harsh and she feels herself being pushed towards shore, but there are those damn rocks in the way. If she lets the waves guide her, she'll for sure be thrown against them.

And, as if it couldn't get worse, the rain begins to fall faster, blurring her vision. Her damp hair clings to her head as she gasps for air, her chest heaving. Unable to hold onto the boat much longer, her fingers begin to slip and one more wave knocks her away from the boat.

Alison has never been good at swimming. She's not terrible, but her body feels weaker and weaker with every passing moment that she tries to stay above surface level so she can breathe. The rain makes it hard to inhale, all the water around her is making her feel trapped; it's like she's in a giant death cage that's continually filling up with liquid, the way her lungs are right now. Her nostrils burn as she accidentally inhales too much saltwater and she feels the fiery sensation crawl up her throat as liquid fills her lungs.

A new wave submerges her, drowning her helplessly, and she is caught under the water as she feels her body weakening.

Suddenly, as she feels her body being tossed around beneath the surface once more by a giant wave, strong arms wrap around her upper torso, startling her at first with the foreign touch but then bringing intense relief. Her heartbeat races, grateful that someone has finally found her- she hopes it's a coastguard that can pull them both to safety on their ship. The person loops their arms under her arms and around her chest and struggles to pull her above the surface of the water. Ali gasps for air as she's finally yanked above the wave, desperate to breathe.

"It's okay, I got you!" she hears a voice say desperately- and a shock comes over her because she recognizes that voice. She tries to look behind her in disbelief. Sure enough, through the rain and all the water, she sees none other than _Emily Fields,_ the girl she thought she'd never see again. Is this a dream? Is she hallucinating that the same girl who held her hostage is now rescuing her, thousands of miles away from Pennsylvania, in the middle of the ocean? Oh god, maybe she is going crazy. Her eyes widen when Emily breaks the strong wrap around her yet continues to hold on to her arm tightly. "Put your arms around my neck!"

Emily maneuvers herself so that the blonde realizes the mysterious brunette is asking her to hold on piggy back style.

Quickly, she scrambles to hold on to Emily, afraid that she's going to end up dragging them both underwater. But as she holds tightly, Emily's physical stamina seems to uphold and she begins to attempt to swim towards shore. Alison is amazed at her physical ability, and it barely crosses her mind that Emily is wearing nothing but a skimpy shirt and underwear- she must be just as cold as Ali is. The blonde tries to help propel them forward by kicking too, but she eventually resigns to wrapping her legs around Emily.

It's a terrifyingly long amount of time that passes as the ocean propels them towards shore roughly but their own physical progress is slow.

"The rocks!" Ali shrieks as the waves push them in the direction of those nasty giant boulders.

But it's too late.

They try to maneuver their bodies so that they only scratch the hard surface, but there's no use – the storm is so powerful that they are hurled towards the rocks like ragdolls. Alison suddenly hears Emily release a painful, gut-wrenching scream and she sees fresh blood on Emily's skin mixed with the raging water.

It registers after a few seconds that the brunette's right shoulder had slammed against the corner of a rock, and Ali tries to rest her arm around Emily's neck as inwardly as possible so she doesn't put pressure on the injury. But soon her own throat is tightened by cry from a sudden sting of pain shooting up from her foot which collided harshly with an underlying boulder. As a strangled cry escapes her throat, she realizes she can't really feel her own right foot anymore.

But they can't give up, not now – she feels it in Emily's movements, this silent determination to make it to the shore, and Ali manages to think she can never thank her enough, making it her own personal mission to help this brunette girl straighten her life out once and for all, and it's the last thing she remembers thinking before her world goes nearly black. The salty liquid gathers inside her throat and she can't stop choking on it, feeling her own body weight going down, as if the ocean wants to swallow her whole. She feels her eyes burning, her chest stuffed full of saltwater and she feels absolutely helpless.

Ali tries to fight it, she really does – trying to spit the water out and to rise above, making an attempt to swim up and take a breath – one tiny little breath, but the suffocating inhales that exhaust her are more deadly than anything, and her actions are too desperate and rapid to be successful.

And that's when the silence comes. Total, serene silence combined with warmth, but also with this strange kind of internal heaviness. It's like falling from a cliff but in slow motion, plummeting down – very, very tranquilly, and the warm peacefulness that surrounds her body is trying to take over. And she wants this, wants to stay inside, wants to surrender to this glorious silence.

She doesn't see or feel much, and it all escapes her – the tight and sharp grip of strong hands dragging her to the surface over and over again, the shallow, shaky breaths and the pleading for her to wake up. She isn't conscious for a thing.

x-x-x

Emily panics slightly when she feels Alison's body go limp on her back, her hands no longer gripping tightly together. A new surge of energy takes over, adrenaline pushing her forward despite the fact that her shoulder feels like it's on fire. She knows there are tears escaping her own eyes, but she does her best to forget about herself for a second.

The random blonde on her back had gone out on a limb to save her, and she's going to pay back the damn favor if it's the last thing she does. For the last few weeks all she has thought about is how _fucked up_ everything is, how she just wants everything to return back to normal. That one bittersweet night in the coffee shop has been on her mind on repeat, haunting her terribly. Mostly, she's frightened by the way those piercing blue eyes seem to follow her wherever she goes.

The brunette thinks of nothing else but straight determination, and she sees an opening in the rocks that looks like it leads to an area guarded against the waves. She holds on to Ali and swims forward, slowly and painfully, but she manages to somehow. The waves continue to break against the tall boulders, but she slips through an opening between two rocks and she finds herself in a stiller part of the ocean, guarded by the boulder formation. The rocks form a U-barrier around a beach cove and so the waves break against them, but don't go past them, leaving a more tranquil section of water blocked off.

A cry of relief escapes her lips and her tired body swims quickly with Alison towards shore.

She doesn't know how she does it, but she pulls Alison's lifeless body out onto the shore, barely out of the water, and stands up, exhausted. The waves reach their feet, but they've escaped the damn water. Emily tries to catch her breath for a moment, and she thanks God for the hundredth time that her fourteen years of swimming have finally paid off.

She looks for a moment at the blonde's innocent face, and she feels her heart softening again like it did that night six weeks ago. But a cold horror takes over as she realizes Alison isn't breathing. She falls to her knees next to the blonde and hovers over her worriedly.

"Alison, can you hear me?" she tries to say while nudging her, all too aware that there will be no response. It causes a new wave of dismay to creep down her spine. Her chest constricts with a cold fear taking over her body. She can't die on her, she can't watch one more person slip away from her-

But it's not the time for a panic attack, and it certainly isn't the time to give up. She quickly decides not to waste any more seconds and so she starts performing CPR on Alison. The blonde's body is lifeless and her face has turned a very pale shade of blue, her lips almost a shade of bluish purple.

Pumping and blowing air into somebody seemed so distant, so _unnecessary_ back when she'd been learning how to do it. But now she understands just how much her breath _matters, _every single exhale does, and she doesn't stop pushing down on Alison's chest and giving breaths. She pumps again and again and breathes into her mouth; and after a while her arms feel sore and she feels tears prickling in her own eyes. Seeing this beautiful girl, so unresponsive, so devoid of everything she used to have not more than fifteen minutes ago breaks Emily's already bruised and damaged heart.

"Come on, Alison. _Please_," she begs before breathing in once more, but the hope that's built inside of her starts to vanish, and fear quickly digs its claws into her, leaving her shaking and distraught. Dark red blood keeps seeping from the open wound on her shoulder, and her trembling hands push once more on Alison's chest, the breaths even more desperate.

"I still have to learn all about you," she cries and doesn't even realize that she says that out loud. She starts feeling dizzy, the dark reddish, metallic liquid from her shoulder mixing with the dripping water from her face as she pumps another thirty times once more. She is not even sure if she has broken any of Alison's ribs in the process but the most important thing is for her to breathe again, and so she continues over and over. Suddenly her world starts spinning as the warm, saline liquid suddenly spurts back out from Ali's mouth and trickles down her lips, and Emily pulls back quickly. She sees Ali choke and gasp for air desperately in between coughing violently and inhaling heavily, Her body convulses and sits up before her blue eyes blink rapidly darting around before landing on Emily in confusion and then amazement. Emily leans back at the sight of life filling Alison once more and she finally can manage a half-smile of absolute relief.

It's mere seconds before pain stings her body so hard that she almost collapses. Her left hand flies up to hold onto her shoulder as a searing burn shoots through her body and her mouth drops open in a silent cry. She grips it tightly, tears suddenly escaping from sheer pain.

The adrenaline is gone, her body is exhausted and torn up, but at least the blonde is safe; at least Emily saved a life.

x-x-x

Thoughts?! :) Hopefully that was satisfying enough. And to the anon that wanted Emily's POV, hopefully this was a good start. Trying to update as often as possible, babes. Review, please! xx


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: kayweston and I have a really good writing groove goin for this story, so again updates should be pretty frequent. Here's a particularly long one :) Thanks for all the reviews lovelies!

**Chapter 4**

_Fifteen minutes later…_

"We need to get you to a doctor, asap," Alison says worriedly as her cerulean eyes stare sympathetically at the gaping wound on Emily's shoulder. The blonde has caught her breath and bounced back quickly from almost dying. Now she's only concerned with Emily's injury. She thinks she can see right into-holy shit is that a tendon? Ali swallows weakly, sensing Emily's intense and dire pain.

"No! Are you crazy?!" Emily asks through her gritted teeth and almost rips her arm away from the blonde who is only trying to help. Her hasty and sharp actions remind Alison that she's dealing with a very unpredictable stranger. "You do realize I'm wanted for murder right?"

"How could I forget?" Ali bites back, but more out of frustration than aggression. The two of them have managed to move themselves up from the shoreline to under protection of the cliffs, hiding out inside the cove. Exhaustion is hitting both of them, hard, their bodies almost limp and ready to give out.

"You really don't think things through sometimes do you?" Emily asks, her body feels like it is on fire and she can't really think straight. This is how she deals with pain, she lashes out. And Alison is the _only_ person she can lash out at right now but she doesn't mean to, it just happens.

But the blonde bites her tongue, trying not to argue with the injured girl who just saved her life.

"We need to at least get to the main beach so I can bring you a medical kit," she finally says, slowly and carefully. Her own foot feels weird though – as if it's no more attached to her body, but at the same time as if it's a very painful reminder of today's events.

"Can you even walk that far?" this time there is concern in Emily's eyes as they flicker up from her feet and Alison sighs heavily, trying to manage a very faint smile.

"I have to," she shrugs and tries standing up, but the wave of this freaking pinpoint pain is too much to handle and she hisses, almost falling to her knees.

"Here, show me," the brunette says as she comes closer to Ali and looks closer, only to see an extremely swollen, bruised foot, and her guess is – metatarsal fracture and a broken toe, but she can't be sure, can't do much without checking with the specialist first.

"It's not me who must visit a doctor," she states seriously.

"We have to clean your wound. I'll be fine," the blonde hisses stubbornly.

"Sure you will," Emily raises her eyebrow at her and offers a half-smile. "After you visit a doctor."

Alison has no idea how they managed to reach the covered part of this cove– she couldn't get there at all if it wasn't for this brunette that seems to be her lifeboat. But it terrifies her what she sees in these amber-brown eyes – both terrifies and excites, actually, because it's raw fear mixed with deadly determination. And as Emily lead her to the secluded part of the beach, the blonde had felt how tense her body was, and just how strong she has to be to survive even one day on the run.

"How do you cope?" she asks quietly as she looks at the wound one more time and makes a swift decision. She forgets about the aching pain in her foot and focuses on Emily. Brown eyes widen as Alison pulls off her soaked thin tunic and rips it into pieces as best she can. She reaches for Emily's arm gently and swathes it with the shredded fragment of tunic she'd managed to rip, and Emily winces once again. There is no hesitation in her actions- the blonde is truly doing everything out of genuine care.

Emily gulps subtly as she distracts herself from the searing pain of the saltwater mixing with her wound. Little cries spill from her lips as she closes her eyes in pain every couple seconds, but mostly she lets her eyes run over Ali's body appreciatively. The blonde has innocently left herself in her _super_ skimpy and revealing bikini. There's just so much smooth skin being shown off, and Emily swallows guiltily, bringing her gaze back to the blonde's face.

Ironically, the the sun has almost set behind them, skimming across their exhausted faces, and it's like the storm never happened – the tranquility is unbelievable, and the only thing that's different is the distinct smell of the ocean, the wet sand and lots and lots of seashells.

"How do I cope? It's nothing, I've been injured before," Emily waves her left hand to go round the question and she focuses on looking at Alison's feet. She's incredibly downplaying the severity of her injury.

"You know what I mean –"

"Ow!"

"Sorry," Alison says sheepishly and loosens her grip on the brunette's arm.

"Emily, you know what I mean. How is it…being on the run?"

"How about we make a deal. You go to your beach house and call a doctor. When you come back, I'll tell you everything."

The blonde narrows her eyes and a tiny little part of her temperamental self comes back.

"How about NO," she says with a smirk, a plan already forming in her head. The brunette looks at her carefully, eyeing her every move. "We'll sit here and wait. And then you come with me."

She states it so matter-of-factly, and it sounds more like an order than anything else. It takes Emily by complete surprise and she blinks a few times before she even articulates a word.

"You're kidding," she snorts with sad disbelief. Even if she desperately wants to, it's not safe for her to just stroll into the open with Alison. She's seen the news reports warranting her arrest.

"I don't look like I'm in the mood for cruel jokes, do I? You're not in this alone anymore," Alison deadpans, and she crosses her arms defensively, awaiting Emily's answer.

"Yeah, I've heard that once before," Emily mutters under her breath, the words leaving her mouth before she manages to stop them.

"What?" Alison shoots her a confused look. But the brunette merely looks away, her jawline hard as she stares out towards the ocean. "You're not. Aren't you glad that you're not?"

The blonde utters the last words so softly, as if she doesn't dare to upset the brunette with her tone. The brunette can't really focus when her eyes keep guiltily wandering to Alison's cleavage and she tells herself to knock it off cause now is not the time or place.

"It's too much of a risk, Alison," she finally utters and Alison tries for the life of her to stop that weird flutter inside of her ribcage at the sound of her name escaping this girl's lips. "Somebody could see me, see _us_. We'd both be fucked."

"Well I'm not leaving without you," Alison states firmly. She adjusts herself slowly but hisses sharply as her foot moves uncomfortably.

"Oh for Christ sake," Emily grumbles as she leans down to inspect the foot, ignoring the fiery burn in her shoulder. "Definitely just a trauma fracture. Did you hit it on a rock?"

Ali nods feebly and Emily grabs at the ripped up tunic on the ground and rips it some more. "I'm going to wrap it okay? Just until we get to the ER-"

"I can't go alone," Alison stares at Emily like she's grown a second head. "And seriously I'm not letting you out of my sight."

"Why? So you can turn me in?" Emily asks, a hint of a playful tone appearing.

"I wouldn't do that to you," Alison shakes her head seriously, sombering the moment a bit. The brunette nods carefully, and she feels at a loss.

"Look if you don't go get that foot checked out it could lead to a lot of problems down the line, like not being able to walk-"

"What about your shoulder?"

"It's nothing, it's just a gash-"

"I'm not going without you," Alison states once more, her defiant blue eyes meeting Emily's. The brunette stares back, equally intense. How did too such defiant people find each other?

x-x-x

"It's dark enough," Ali says quietly as she peers out from the cove. Dusk has passed, and they've been lazily sitting around in awkward silence for the past hour. Emily has herself propped up against a rock, drifting in and out of sleep. Her left hand is still holding on to her right arm in pain. It rests on where the bandaged material is.

"Hm?" Emily asks, her eyes fluttering open as she tries to give herself energy.

"It's dark enough, come on, time to go," Alison coaxes gently but Emily looks at her warily through half open eyes.

"You go," she says as she shuts her eyes again. "It's not like there won't be bright lights at the ER."

"Fine, then we won't go," Alison says dryly as she crosses her arms. This catches Emily's attention and she opens her eyes again to argue.

"But your foot-"

"It's fine, it can wait," Alison says matter of factly. "I don't think your shoulder can. But since you refuse to come see a doctor, at least come to my house."

"I don't want to."

"You don't want to? Or you don't trust me?" Alison asks, her voice laced with hurt. "Because I bet a fucking hot bath and new clothes and bed sounds pretty great right now."

"Look it's not you I don't trust," Emily grimaces as she shifts and a pain rips through her shoulder once more. "You saved me and I saved your life. But other people aren't so forgiving and generous."

"My brother and his girlfriend are out for the night, my Nana will be easy to slip by- no one will know you're in the house. I have my bathroom in my room, and I can lock my door. I _swear _I won't let anything happen to you."

Emily looks at her warily once more, hesitant to listen to her.

"What about your foot?" she asks pointedly, gesturing towards the injury.

Alison's face softens slightly, looking at Emily with a pleading look. "I can limp. But I'm gonna need your help. So, you kinda have to come."

x-x-x

"Easy there," Emily says through a strained voice as Ali once again stumbles while holding onto the brunette, her hand clutching a little too tightly onto Emily's shoulder near the injury. It hurts like a motherfucker, to say the least. But the blonde is as pathetic as a limp deer as she tries to hobble along the sandy shoreline without putting pressure on her foot.

"I'm sorry," Alison grimaces as she pauses and Emily consequently pauses too. "That's it over there. That's my house."

Emily doesn't say a word and simply nods. The blonde's thoughts wander to if the brunette recognizes this area- what if she was the one who had saved her that night at the party?

"It's really quiet," Emily observes.

"Well yeah, who goes out on the beach after a storm?" Ali counters with a small smile.

"True."

The two look like injured soldiers as they make their way slowly to the large beach house. As they approach it from the back, Emily's eyes narrow and her ears strain as she hears a faint noise.

"Is that…is that the sound of…" Emily mumbles under her breath and suddenly Alison hears it too. She hears a familiar distant moan, and she rolls her eyes.

"That's probably my brother and his girlfriend. I guess they came back early," Ali shrugs.

"Lovely," Emily says with a sarcastic smile and Alison laughs emptily. But the brunette's smile disappears as she glances at the backdoor in front of them "I guess you're at your destination then."

"Don't you dare think about leaving," Ali says with a serious tone as she grabs onto Emily's good shoulder.

The brunette's eyebrows quirk up at her boldness- she certainly wasn't the same timid waitress from the café when she had held her hostage. "It's too risky."

"If you don't come in, I'll tell the police where you are."

Emily's eyes narrow and darken and Alison's breath hitches as the brunette steps into her and unintentionally backs her against the door, leaning in and slamming a hand down on the door by Alison's face.

"What?" Alison glares defiantly but her heart is pounding in her chest.

"Don't threaten me," Emily says in a low voice, and her eyes flicker with an emotion that Alison can't decipher. Hurt? Why would she be hurt?

"I'm just trying to help," Alison simply says firmly but softly as she lets her hand land on Emily's forearm, lowering her limb peacefully. "Just trust me."

"Would you trust a random stranger?" Emily asks without thinking as she steps back to calm down.

"I already did."

Alison stares evenly at the brunette who sighs and looks away, unable to turn down the offer. Besides the hospitality and promise of safety and comfort, spending a night with another human being just sounds so appealing, let alone an attractive, sweet blonde girl.

"Fine."

Emily tries to ignore the way her heart flutters slightly at the small smile that graces Alison's face.

"Come on," the blonde urges gently and her tiny fingers wrap around Emily's wrist and lead her into the house quietly. Emily is pleasantly surprised at how dim and quiet the house is, and she barely hears a sound other than that constant thumping coming from the same room with the moaning. "Wait here."

Emily nods and obediently waits in the laundry room while Alison hobbles off to the kitchen. She grabs a plastic bag under the sink and throws in some cold leftovers, fruit, and water bottles in the bag.

"Emily," she whispers in a hushed tone and the brunette inches her way out of the shadows cautiously. Alison smirks slightly. "Come on, it's not like we have to pretend we're spies. My nana is in her room and my brother is clearly occupied."

When they leave the kitchen and approach the stairs, Emily frowns at Alison's foot.

"How is this gonna work?"

"Take this and go upstairs to my room, it's the last one on the left," Alison tells her as she hands her the bag of food and Emily stares at her questioningly.

"And then what?"

"I'll meet you up there," Alison shrugs. "It could take me a minute or two."

"Okay," Emily says looking at her uncertainly as she tries to decide whether or not to help and risk getting caught by somebody.

"Go," Ali insists as she starts ascending the stairs and Emily doesn't wait to hear it twice before she hurries up the stairs quickly and figures she's been heroic enough today.

The brunette finds her way and enters the blonde's room almost silently. She shuts the door behind her and tries to take in her surroundings. Alison's room is clean and clearly well organized and decorated. It's also large. There's a queen sized bed in the middle of the room with a desk, a dresser, _and_ a walk in closet and bathroom. Emily can't even begin to imagine what her real room at her house in Pennsylvania looks like. She sets the bag of food down on the desk but something catches her eye as she does so. It's a photo of two blondes, and Emily gasps as she recognizes the second one.

"I discovered I'd go faster if I crawled," Alison announces softly as she opens the door and sees Emily jump backwards from her desk.

"You know Hanna Marin?" Emily asks nervously, her throat suddenly feeling closed up as she begins to panic.

"She's my best friend-" Emily's eyes grow wide with fear as Alison speaks. "Don't freak out!"

"Don't freak out?! Does she know what you did? Did you tell her-"

"I didn't tell her a thing," Alison assures gently, approaching Emily like the way a tamer approaches a spooked animal. "Okay? Calm down. You're safe here."

Emily takes a deep breath, nods, and looks away again. She hates this feeling of pity that she feels radiating from Alison. It's _annoying_ thinking that this girl is probably just helping her out of pity. The thought never occurs to Emily that there could be deeper reasons for Alison's willingness to help.

"Come on," Ali says innocently as she motions towards the bathroom. The brunette feels like she is a hesitant bundle of nerves but she manages to follow the blonde into what turns out to be quite a spacious bathroom. There is a standalone bathtub on the ceramic tiled floor, and marble countertops with the softest towels hanging above them.

Alison goes over to the bathtub and turns on the water, drawing a bath as she goes to her cabinets and grabs a bath bomb out and throws it in the water. She takes the softest looking white towel and hangs it by the bath.

"You can go first, you deserve it," Alison tells her as she turns to face Emily who suddenly looks really reserved, almost bashful.

"I think we both deserve it," Emily says quietly. "Can you…uh… help me um take my shirt off?"

The blonde merely nods with a smile and limps over to the athletic girl and helps her shrug her good arm out of the shirt. She then lifts it up, over Emily's head, and slides it down her injured arm. She steps back and lets her blue eyes rake over the brunette's stunningly toned body left in only a pair of black panties and a bra. _Holy shit_ this girl has the body of a greek goddess, Alison thinks. She doesn't even realize she's staring at Emily's flat, toned abdomen and perfectly round breasts until the brunette clears her throat.

"So, we'll both fit, won't we?" Emily asks cautiously. "In our underwear, I mean, of course."

Alison looks down and realizes she's still wearing her bikini (and Emily hasn't forgotten that fact- she's enjoyed looking for the past two hours).

"It's fine, really," Alison argues weakly as she leans against the counter. She is suddenly a little intimidated but she's not sure why. She doesn't understand why Emily's stature and presence is suddenly making her feel apprehensive. They had just been 'playfully' bantering minutes ago. Still the scented hot bath looks so alluring, even though the blonde thinks she's had enough in-the-water experience for a lifetime.

"Am I that intimidating?" Emily asks softly, her expression gentler than it has been previously.

"A little," the blonde admits without thinking but when she sees Emily's face cloud over with regret, she quickly adds, "but it's not always a bad thing."

"I didn't used to be," Emily sighs as she fidgets and fingers the bandage on her shoulder while trying to avoid awkward eye contact. But she notices the blonde look longingly at the drawn bath and she takes the initiative. She steps into it, still in her underwear, and relaxes as she leans back against the end of it, keeping her shoulder out of the water. "Are you coming in or not?"

x-x-x

The bathroom is peacefully silent as the two relax tranquilly. Alison feels her body slowly unwinding, even though stepping into the bathtub had been uncomfortable at first considering the fact that she'd just almost drowned.

She looks carefully at Emily who's eyes are fluttering shut every few seconds much like they were in the cove.

"How long have you been in Georgia?" Alison asks, breaking the quiet and she watches as those brown eyes open and look at her pointedly.

"About a month," Emily replies as she closes her eyes again. "I was in the mountains in the Carolinas for a while."

"I…I thought I saw you last week," Alison speaks slowly. Those warm brown eyes look at her once more, this time with a knowing look. "I guess this sounds crazy. I was really drunk, but I thought I saw you."

"You did," Emily admits slowly, her voice hushed as if telling a deep dark secret. "I went to that party because an open house means open food. Believe me, I was shocked to see you."

"So it was you," Alison confirms for herself feeling a little less crazy.

"Yeah, you were with some guy," Emily says trying to keep her voice nonchalant but a part of her had been extremely over protective and bitter when she saw Alison half naked with some guy's hands all over her. "But you were pretty out of it, and you seemed kinda panicked, so I intervened. Who was he anyway?"

"I wish I knew," Alison says with a sigh, regret laced in her voice. "I have no idea. I barely remember that night."

"So I saved you," Emily says as she glances up with a lighthearted smile on her face.

"Twice," Alison breathes out with an equally nervous smile. ""How did you know I was out there, today?"

Emily's tan cheeks turns red, and Alison presses for the answer. "Have you been watching me?"

"Not like stalking, if that's what you mean," Emily insists. "After that party, I found a cove down on the beach that is protected during high tides. So I've been crashing there. I just happened to see you a few times, and today I saw you go out. And then I started to wonder, 'why isn't she coming back in?' as the storm rolled in."

"You swam out just to save me," Alison says with awe as the realization hits her. Of course, she already knew that, but sitting there alone in that bath, completely vulnerable, with someone who had risked their entire life for her through a dangerous storm was just beyond comprehension.

"It was nothing," Emily shrugs trying to downplay the event but Alison leans forward.

"That's the bravest act I've ever seen," Alison says seriously, her blue eyes dancing with appreciation and Emily swallows as Alison earnestly speaks. "Thank you. Seriously. For everything. "

"You're welcome," Emily replies, the tension in the room seeming to escalate quickly. Luckily, a growl is heard and both Alison and Emily look down at the brunette's stomach.

"Hungry?" Alison asks, her lips curling up into a smile. Emily nods sheepishly and Alison ducks her head under once before coming up, cleansing herself. The blonde gets up and out and Emily has to force herself to look away unless she wants the inappropriate thoughts to flood her mind. "I'm going to go get you some clothes so you can come out and eat and rest."

The blonde steps out and Emily guiltily lets her eyes follow as she stares discreetly at the bubbly round ass. She feels caught up in a dream, like none of this is real. One moment she's hiding out from society in coves all alone, the next she is hiding out in a beautiful rich girl's house after saving her from drowning. Not to mention she had coincidentally held the same girl hostage over a month ago. It all sounds absolutely insane.

x-x-x

"Ahhh Emily hisses, leaning against the bathroom counter, dripping wet from the bath as Alison undoes the bandage on her shoulder and dabs at it with a towel. Alison forgot that before anything else, they should attend to Emily's shoulder. "Fuck."

"Shh, just another second or two," Alison soothes as she internally winces and anticipates the backlash as she holds the towel under warm water and then cleans the wound throughly, getting the dirt out. The little cries of pain hurt to hear and she tries her best to really be careful-

"Fuuuuuck," Emily cries out painfully as she squezes her eyes shut, her body cringing and flinching as tears find their way to Emily's eyes. Alison feels terrible, wants to make the pain stop. She makes a mental note to go get painkillers as soon as she's finished, because her foot is killing her as well.

"It's almost over," Alison reassures and gets the last of the dirt and sand out of the open wound and rewraps it with a thin towel. Emily leans back against the counter, her body tense and her face showing lines of panic. "There, all wrapped and taken care of, for now."

"Thanks," Emily murmurs as she tries to catch her breath.

"See? Not so bad," Alison breathes out as she watches the brunette try to relax again. She rubs Emily's arm soothingly and watches as goosebumps arise and a shiver rips through Emily. Ali innocently smiles, but it's the first time she begins to notice the brunette's possible attraction- and she doesn't mind it one bit.

x-x-x

"Mmmm," Emily can't help but hum happily as she sits on Alison's bed eating a bite of a sandwich while wearing an oversized t-shirt and short shorts from the blonde's closet. Her own clothes are hanging on furniture around the room, drying.

"What have you been eating?" Alison asks curiously, observing the runaway hungrily munching on her food. T blonde sets some painkillers down on the bed next to Emily along with the waterbottle. She also swallows two pills herself, rinsing them down as she sits on the edge of the bed. "And, here are some of my grandma's painkillers. I think they're a bit stronger, for when she hurt her back."

"Pretty much whatever I find in people's trash, you'd be surprised at what people throw out these days," Emily tries to joke as she scarfs down the sandwich. She sees Alison's sympathetic look and she subtly rolls her eyes. She takes the painkillers to appease the blonde and to stop the throbbing pain in her shoulder- part of her hoping the painkillers knock her out into a deep, deep sleep. After she swallows, she flashes a cynical look at the blonde. "Doesn't it bother you that I'm literally a wanted murderer?"

"I know what it's like for everyone to think of you as something you're not," Alison says carefully. "But I have to know the truth."

"About?"

"Did you kill her? Maya? She was your girlfriend right?"

"I mean, I may as well have, right? That's what everybody thinks," Emily mumbles as she looks down. Memories flood her mind as she vividly remembers her once seemingly normal life just months ago.

"What everybody thinks and the truth are two completely different things," Alison argues fiercely, her heart flooded with the need to help Emily. "Why are you on the run for something you didn't do?"

"I don't wanna talk about it," Emily says simply, her guard going back up.

"But I do," Alison insists.

"Not now," Emily says defiantly, her voice almost pleading. "Just…not right now. I don't have the strength to talk about it."

"But-"

"Please, Alison," Emily finally begs. The blonde is taken aback by the dripping, sincere emotion spilling from the brunette's lips.

"Ali," the blonde says softly.

"Ali," Emily breathes gently. "I like that."

And just like that, the blonde momentarily forgets her argument and need to hear an explanation. There is something so captivating and mysteriously depressing about the brunette that frightens her yet draws her in.

"You should sleep," Emily reminds her gently, her caring side showing for a brief moment.

"I will if you will," Alison murmurs softly, her warm blue eyes gazing at Emily's tired body leaning against the backboard.

"Deal," Emily replies sleepily as her eyes already beginning to slip shut. But she snuggles down deeper into the blankets, and watches as Alison crawls into bed next to her. Having another person with her for the first time in a long time terrifies Emily- but for once she doesn't feel alone, and that feels amazing. The brunette lies on her back, slightly angled on her good shoulder's side- and she happens to be facing Alison, who angles her body so she's facing the brunette as well.

The painkillers are beginning to kick in, and both girls feel a haze settling over their bodies.

The blonde can feel Emily's sleepy eyes on hers, and for some reason the mysterious brunette makes her feel safe. She can distinctly remember the voices of those reporters on the news talking about Emily's warrant for arrest, and this is probably the _stupidest_ thing she's ever done- harboring a wanted criminal- but it makes her feel alive, makes her feel comforted.

Because Emily could have really hurt her by now if she wanted to. The brunette could have watched her drown at sea, could have watched her been raped by some stupid drunk guy. Hell, the brunette could have really hurt her that first night. But for all of Emily's outward aggression and display of intimidation, the blonde can tell that she's innocent. The blonde can read that Emily is just a victim of a terrible situation, one that she isn't quite sure what it is yet. But she'll get the answer out of Emily eventually. Afterall, Emily _saved_ her, _twice_. Unnecessarily. Selflessly.

"Alison?" the brunette breathes out in a whisper, half asleep but half very awake- her mind racing with thoughts.

"Yeah?" the blonde asks, unsure of everything and anything at the moment except for the way her body lights up at the anticipation brought on by Emily.

"I…just…" Emily mumbles but her eyes open to meet piercing blue ones staring back at her through the dark. "Today…"

"I know," Alison soothes and brings her hand up to gently hold Emily's cheek, her fingers caressing the soft tan skin beneath her fingertips.

Their eyes hold each other's gaze for a seemingly long period of time, before it's actually _Alison_ that leans in, tilts Emily's face down slightly with her fingers, and kisses her forehead softly, her lips lingering longer than they should (whether it's from sleepiness, the medicine, or something else, Alison isn't sure).

"Thank you," Alison whispers once more, her gratitude clear as day. She feels Emily nod, and she isn't surprised when the brunette tugs on her hand and pulls her a little closer. The blonde isn't stupid, she knows this isn't a normal friendship- friends don't stare intently into each other's eyes with such strong passion, or leave intimate, lingering kisses on foreheads, or feel this strong, frightening yet exciting tension. Friends don't have this magnetic pull that seems to exist between the two of them. And as she drifts off into sleep, she gradually feels Emily's arm somehow wind up slung around her, and the blonde feels safe, curled up with this stranger. Because she doesn't feel like a stranger to Alison. And maybe, just maybe, she won't always be one.

x-x-x

A/N: i love sleepy emison. thoughts? the detailed reviews inspire and make us smile the most :) &amp; don't worry, the emison sparks start to really fly in the next few chapters.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Life is too chaotic for me, I'm sorry this isn't longer. :( This chapter wouldn't be up without kayweston's dilligence.

kayweston: Again, we can't thank you enough for your reviews and for still wanting more. We can promise we love this story with all our hearts. And you must know that – it's emisonxx who's the brains behind this story, and she's such an amazing writer that I'm very often left speechless. Can't wait for your thoughts on this chapter. Enjoy the ride!

**Chapter 5 – I'll Be Watching You**

Alison's bedroom is dark and still, and it's silent except for the steady sound of the two sleeping girls' breathing. The blonde wakes up in the dead of night, dazed and confused. To be honest, she's a little surprised she woke up at all- but she realizes she took the medicine pretty early on in the night. She's also pretty damn sure she hears some movement (a loud thud to be precise), and she's acutely aware of someone else's presence. Well, someone other than the peacefully sleeping brunette just inches away from her.

And she's not wrong – her eyes open sleepily and dart around the room, quickly looking to the glass doorway that leads out to her balcony. They focus on a figure climbing onto the deck– a dark silhouette - and her heart begins pounding furiously as she feels her whole body tense up with fear. Her breath hitches as she feels a fleeting sensation shoot through her, but she realizes Emily's hand is resting on her exposed hip, and her fingertips ghost over Ali's skin as they move gently. Quietly, without waking up the runaway, she gets out of bed cautiously and limps over to the balcony door trying to be undetected.

As she approaches the door, she sees the silhouette become slightly illuminated by the moonlight and she lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding while her body relaxes slightly at the sight.

A smirk greets her through the glass, and she sighs shakily as she opens the door as quietly as possible and slips out (and she doesn't notice the brown eyes watching her warily from the bed).

"Cece, what the hell! What are you doing here?!" she whispers loudly after closing the door behind her. The older blonde merely smoothes out her night slip and sits down in the chair on the balcony.

"Hi darling. It's a wonderful night, isn't it?" Cece asks nonchalantly as she takes a deep breath of the night air, ignoring the question at hand with a devilish smirk and a knowing glint in her eye.

"Oh cut the crap, did you really just climb onto my balcony? What's wrong with you?!" Alison asks feeling caught, and she can't even stand the anxiety anymore- she _needs_ to know Cece's intentions, and she needs to know them now. If the girl is taunting her and ready to run to the police now with this information, she has to know for the sake of protecting Emily.

"Your bedroom door was locked so I climbed over to see what you were hiding, no biggie. It's not that hard from Jason's balcony," Cece answers evenly, the annoying smirk still present as she eyes Alison carefully. "Come on now Ali- you've been different lately, why didn't you just tell me the truth?"

"What do you mean?" Ali furrows her eyebrows in fake surprise as she wonders what the hell to do. She hopes Emily doesn't hear any of this- the brunette is like a skittish animal ready to dart at any moment or defend herself if need be.

"Oh please," Cece snorts as she looks past the blonde into the room and raises an eyebrow. "Don't give me this dear in headlights look. Just tell me the fucking truth."

That damn smile is still on Cece's face and it has Alison subtly trembling uncontrollably.

"Cece, I-I didn't know how to tell you, please, please don't tell any-"

"Oh stop it silly, I'm not going to tell anyone," Cece says carelessly as a look of confusion crosses Alison's face. The older blonde waves her hand in the direction where Emily's sleeping.

"Wait, wh-what?"

"I just wish you told me before that you were into girls."

_Oh_. So _that's_ what Cece thinks is going on, Alison muses to herself as she lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Well, at least Cece hasn't figured out the actual situation. Figures. But, now that she thinks about it, it'd be hard for the older blonde to get a good look at Emily's face from the window. And she'd be surprised if Cece even paid attention to the news.

"I feel deeply hurt," Cece states in mock regret as she places her hand on her heart. "I thought I'd be special enough to know about…whatever this is."

"I don't even know know what _it_ is," Alison sighs softly because now _she_ isn't even sure what's going on between her and Emily. "It's complicated."

"Come on, I wanna know _everything_," Cece says wiggling her eyebrows playfully as she gestures once more towards the inside. "Where'd you meet her? What's her name? Is she sexy? Have you gone past first base?"

Alison laughs quietly as she shakes her head and looks at Cece who is staring at her expectantly.

"I can't tell you all that, a girl's gotta have her secrets."

"Come onnnnnn, one juicy detail and I'll let you get back to her," Cece begs playfully as she grabs onto Ali's hand.

"Um, okay," Ali says Cece holds her hand and plays with it cutely. What is she supposed to say? _Is _she into Emily? She hasn't had the chance to sit down with her thoughts and sort them out. What if she's just fascinated by the idea of the mysterious brunette. It doesn't help knowing that the brunette is into girls too, because Alison worries a part of her is just really attached to the exciting possibility of being into Emily like that, if that makes any sense. Because none if it makes any sense to her. Only the fact that she's helplessly drawn to her.

"We're like sisters, just tell me," Cece insists and Ali gives in and says the first thing that comes to her mind.

"Well, uh, she's got the body of a freakin' greek goddess," Ali speaks slowly, leaning against the railing so that she doesn't put pressure on her foot. Her mind wanders to thoughts of how wonderful Emily had looked in just her underwear, thoughts that Ali has never had about another girl before.

"Oh god so she's really hot?" Cece asks inquisitively with a smile.

"Yeah," and now it's Ali's turn to smirk. "And she's got this…this aggressive side to her that's covering up a really gentle sweet side."

"Oh now we're talking!" Cece says with a grin in a hushed voice as she fangirls for Alison, a teasing look on her face. "When do I get to meet her?"

"Uh maybe not any time soon, she's really shy and not really out," Alison says quietly, desperate to protect Emily's identity.

"Fine, but I'm getting the dirty details from you in the morning," Cece says with a wink and stands up, looking at the mini blonde beside her. "Hey."

Alison looks at Cece only to see a look of concern flash across her cheeky face, just for a moment.

"Be careful okay? I don't want you to hurt yourself. I know how those hot, flirty still in-the-closet girls can be when they're not sure of themselves, when they're hiding who they really are," Cece comments lightly. Alison almost wants to laugh because Cece has it all wrong. Alison isn't afraid of Emily hiding her sexuality. She's seen Emily's eyes on her, seen the way Emily intently focuses on her. She's either a psychopath, or strongly attracted to Ali (or both, but Alison tries not to think about that).

"I'll be careful," Ali nods.

"Alright, get back to your greek goddess, bitch," Cece playfully teases as she goes back to climb the balcony back to Jason's room.

"Goodnight Cece," Ali rolls her eyes as she returns to her room and opens and shuts the door quietly. The blonde limps over back to her bed as quietly as she can, sighing slightly as she approaches it. A wave of sleepiness hits her. The brunette looks so peaceful sleeping, she thinks as she climbs on to the bed. So serene and beautiful, so-

"What the hell was that?"

Alison is knocked flat on her back as soon as she climbs on the bed, a gasp escaping her lips as a weight is pressed down on top of her and it takes a moment for her to realize that Emily has pinned her to the mattress with her body on top of her and one hand pushing Ali's shoulder down hard. Her features are dark and distrusting, eyes leering over the blonde.

"Emily-"

"Who was that?" Emily asks in a menacingly low voice that startles the blonde.

"My brother's girlfriend was just worried because I locked my door-"

"She totally saw me," Emily freaks out, her nerves running wild. She shouldn't have trusted Alison. She shouldn't have agreed to come back to this house, how stupid did she get? Of course someone was going to see her and turn her in and-

"She couldn't even tell what you really looked like," Alison argues back, trying to ignore how close Emily's face is to hers. And the brunette simultaneously tries to ignore how Alison's chest rises and falls, her cleavage spilling out of her very thin, deep-v tank top.

"Then why did she keep gesturing towards me?" Emily asks in an accusatory voice, her brown eyes shimmering with confusion.

"She thinks I'm fooling around with you!"

A sudden awkward silence falls over the two of them, and Emily feels like she's just gotten the wind knocked out of her.

"Oh," is all she says as she blinks rapidly, a little more than embarrassed and slightly surprised. She wonders what the blonde thinks about _that_.

"You gotta have more faith in me," Alison insists lightly as Emily's eyebrows furrow together and she frowns- and goddamn she has just got the most adorable pout on her face. She watches Emily nod slowly and wince from the pressure she's exerting on her arm. The blonde brings her hand up slowly to brush the hair out of the brunette's face, a stunned look coming over Emily as she does so. "How's the shoulder feel?"

"Can't really feel it, I'm still a little high on the painkillers," Emily admits as she feels exhaustion taking over her body again and she relishes in the warm touch of Alison.

"Me too, I can kinda feel it," Alison whispers quietly. "It feels all woozy."

And suddenly, the two of them are intensely aware of their position. Alison, on her back, chest heaving slowly as she stares up at Emily whose face is just inches away from her own, her knees on either side of Ali's hips. The brunette's breathing is rapid, her heart pounding in her chest as Ali's fingers caress her cheek again for the second time that night. Is the blonde hinting at something? Emily tries not to get her hopes up, but the delirious part of her says _fuck it_.

There's no time to analyze anything, there seems to be no time at all and everything just happens on its own – Emily lowers her head, and as her lips connect with Alison's, she feels the blonde tremble and gasp at this sudden contact. It's warm, and it's slow – the air between them nearly hot and palpable, their bodies still, almost frozen, as if to make sure with this stillness that no sudden action will destroy this moment. She's waiting for the blonde to shove her away in protest, but that never happens.

Their lips begin to move against each other, warm breaths mixing and blending, and Alison is sure this dizziness is not from the painkillers, nor from the nearly drowning experience from earlier. Again, she feels as if she's drifting, waves swooshing inside of her brain and when Emily's tongue touches hers, a quiet whimper escapes her mouth, and she can't control this feeling in her abdomen. She wishes she could, for a moment, but Emily's tongue begins to circle and she inhales the brunette's breath, and then she really loses all control over her own aching body.

Two strangers. The thought swishes through her mind and to her own surprises she relaxes, her lips begging for more, more of this hot, desperate need for the brunette's closeness. She touches the nape of her neck and makes her lean closer as she sucks on her lower lip, and the groan, this moan-like sound that Emily makes, forces her to squeeze together her thighs in anticipation. It's too much to handle.

Alison breaks the kiss by gently pulling back, her chest heaving and her blue eyes shut as she tries to catch her breath. When she opens her eyes, they're dark with desire as she stares into those searing brown orbs above her.

Emily tilts her head, almost questioningly, but her gaze isn't any less intense. She brings a tan finger up and places it against Alison's lips, signaling for her to be quiet, and it reminds the blonde of the first encounter they had. Only this time, Emily kisses her way down her jawline, her lips making a trail as they go down her chin. She slowly and carefully kisses down her neck, slowly but _deliberately_, and Alison inhales sharply at the feeling of her lips sucking softly on her delicate skin.

She touches Emily's back gently at first, slips her hand under the thin material of her t-shirt, and she feels Emily gasp right into her neck causing her to shiver with anticipation. But when the brunette's warm tongue finally touches Ali's skin she is nearly on fire, writhing with pleasure under Emily's hot kisses. It's not that she hasn't been kissed this way before. It's just that this time it's so…different, and all her senses are on alert, ready to explode at any given second. She moans quietly when Emily breathes something undecipherable into her ear. The only sounds that fill the near-silent room are these tiny moans, heavy breaths and hot, messy whimpers.

When Alison feels her courage taking the best of her (or maybe it's dizzy foolishness), she manages to position herself in such manner with her arms stretched up above her head, back arched up, and it entices Emily to nearly rip off her top- but the brunette refrains. It's all a blur from then on, it's a sultry bliss as Emily lifts her shirt up slightly, kisses down her neck to her cleavage and touches her abdomen so delicately, with her fingertips merely skimming the soft, slightly sun-kissed skin. Alison's hands travel over the brunette's neck and arms and hair, pulling slightly at the feeling of Emily's tongue on her skin.

They kiss once more as Emily moves back up to connect her lips with Alison's, their moves more rapid and desperate with every passing second. Emily's hands travel to Ali's breasts, grazing just the bottom of them, and then one of them touches her lower abdomen, dangerously dipping into her shorts slightly, over her increasingly wet panties, and they both moan at the desirous sensation – but just as soon as it starts, Alison feels Emily's whole body tense up and the runaway pulls away quickly, panting, and Alison really cannot decipher what's going on in those warm, brown eyes that are swirling with lust. Emily manages a faint – and fake, Ali notes - smile at the blonde before she feebly gets off of her and lies down next to her, avoiding eye contact as she holds her head like it hurts.

"H-hey-" Alison manages to blurt out, but Emily's smile fades as she looks at her and Alison stops speaking, the wheels of her mind turning a hundred miles per hour to figure the brunette out. She wants to ask what's wrong, and why the brunette looks like she has just been burned by Ali. But she refrains because if there's one thing she's sure of it's that Emily is an emotional time bomb.

So the blonde waits patiently for an explanation, trying to catch her breath. Her nerves are still tingling and that _ache_ between her thighs is a physical reminder of what just happened.

"I don't want to do anything you might regret tomorrow," Emily finally explains quietly, turning and looking into cerulean eyes. "Or any day."

The humanity and emotional vulnerability in those words catches Ali off guard. She momentarily forgets about their situation, about Emily's criminal status, about everything except those examining eyes gazing at her intensely with conflict.

"I won't regret that," Alison reassures with a whisper, wanting to soothe Emily's nerves. "Relax okay?"

Emily takes a deep breath and nods, rolling onto her back and burying her face in her hands for a moment before Alison peels them away gently and before pressing herself into Emily's side and tilting her head downwards to look at her.

"You're just gonna have to trust me," Alison says in a hushed voice, and Emily kisses her one last time, but Alison can feel her holding back- she can feel Emily's reluctance and hesitation and it drives her _insane_. She wants to know what the brunette is capable of, but that'll have to wait.

Tomorrow she'll work on convincing Emily to stay, she'll work on finding out more about Emily's history, and she'll work on winning over her trust and figuring out her own emotions as well- but for now she cuddles into the brunette, needing to feel close to her. And Emily lets her, because she has nowhere else to go. But, the brunette thinks as she falls asleep, it's also because she could really fall hard for this random, wonderful blonde girl. And that is simply terrifying.


End file.
